FAMOUS KENTUCKIANS FUN FACTS KENTUCKY SYMBOLS EXPLORERS, PIONEERS & FRONTIERSMEN Cora Wilson Stewart (1875-1958) Educator whose Diane Sawyer TV journalists/commentator More than 100 native Kentuckians have been elected COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY STATE BIRD - KENTUCKY CARDINAL school for adult education became a model through- Effie Waller Smith “Rhymes from the Cumberland” governors of other states. Judge Roy Bean (1825-1903) Infamous “hanging out the world. Jesse Stuart author/educator/poet laureate of judge” of Langtry, Texas. Zachary Taylor* (1784-1850) 12th U.S. President, Kentucky Kentucky is one of four states to call itself a “commonwealth.” The pleasant melodies of this red- Daniel Boone* (1734-1820) Hunted and explored 1849-1850 Allen Tate critic/poet/novelist On taking the oath of office, a Kentucky governor must Kentucky, 1767-74; cleared the Wilderness Road and Frederick Moore Vinson (1890-1953) U.S. Helen Thomas journalist, UPI White House Bureau swear he/she has never fought a duel. In 1792 when Kentucky became the 15th state - the first on the crested song bird are heard year founded Fort Boonesborough, 1775 Supreme Court Chief Justice, 1946-53 Chief western frontier - both “commonwealth” and “state” were used. round in Kentucky. The male boasts James Bowie (1796-1836) Texas Ranger, died at Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971) Civil rights Robert Penn Warren Pulitzer Prize 1947, 1958,1979 the Alamo, designed Bowie knife leader; director of the National Urban League, 1961- Kentucky had a state treasurer named “Honest Dick” Tate Commonwealth meaning government based on the common a vivid red plumage; the female is Kit Carson (1809-1868) Indian agent, trapper scout 71; awarded Medal of Freedom, 1969 ENTERTAINERS who embezzled $247,000 and fled the state in 1888. consent of the people, dates to the time of Oliver Cromwell’s light brown with red highlights. George Rogers Clark* (1752-1818) American England in the mid-1600s. The other U.S. commonwealths, Revolution frontier general and explorer, secured the SCIENTISTS, INVENTORS & PHYSICIANS Ned Beatty - actor Abraham Lincoln’s closest friend was Louisvillian Joshua NW Territory for the U.S., founder of Louisville, 1778 Foster Brooks - comedian Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, were originally British John Carpenter - producer/director Speed. Floyd Collins (1887-1925) Explorer whose entrap- Ephraim McDowell* (1771-1830) Performed first colonies. Kentucky, once part of Virginia, chose to remain a ment and death in a cave became one of the most successful surgical removal of an ovarian tumor, 1809 Steven Curtis Chapman - singer STATE TREE - TULIP TREE widely reported stories of the decade Garrett A. Morgan (1877-1963) Invented first George Clooney - actor commonwealth when it separated from Virginia. Nick Clooney - actor “Happy Birthday to You” was the creation of two Louisville James Harrod* (1742-1793) Frontiersman, founder automatic, tri-color traffic signal, 1923 sisters in 1893. Sometimes called the tulip of Harrodsburg, first permanent settlement west of Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945) Nobel Prize Rosemary Clooney - singer poplar, it is not a poplar at all, the Alleghenies, 1774 winner in medicine for genetic research, 1933 John Conlee - singer William Conrad - actor The first observance of Mother’s Day was in Henderson by but a member of the magnolia Simon Kenton* (1755-1836) Frontier explorer, sol- Matthew B. Sellers* (1869-1932) Among first to J.D. Crowe - singer BLUEGRASS STATE dier, scout for Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark experiment with gliding and power flight Billy Ray Cyrus - singer teacher Mary S. Wilson in 1887. family. It can grow up to 145 Dr. Thomas Walker* (1715-1794) Led the first Phillip A. Sharp (1944- ) Nobel Prize winner for Jackie De Shannon - singer feet and live for 200 years. It documented expedition through Cumberland Gap, the discovery of split genes and for advancing Johnny Depp - actor Bluegrass is not really blue - it’s 1750 research on cancer and hereditary diseases, 1993 Kentucky ranks fourth in the number of sites on the blossoms in May with yellow- Irene Dunn - actress National Register of Historic Places. green - but in the spring, blue- Nathan B. Stubblefield (1860-1928) Successfully Don & Phil Everly - singers green flowers resembling tulips. POLITICAL, MILITARY & SOCIAL LEADERS demonstrated wireless voice transmission (radio),1892 Rebecca Gayheart - actress grass produces bluish-purple buds John T. Thompson (1860-1940) Inventor of the Crystal Gayle - singer The great Man o’ War won all of his 21 races except one, Alben W. Barkley (1877-1956) U.S. Vice President Tommygun machine gun Haven Gillespie - songwriter that, when seen in large fields, under Harry Truman 1949-53 Lillian Gish - actress which he lost to a horse called Upset. give a rich blue cast to the grass. Daniel Carter Beard* (1850-1941) Founded Boy ARTISTS & ARCHITECTS D.W. Griffith - movie producer STATE HORSE STATE FISH Scouts of America, 1910 Tom T. Hall - singer Bibb lettuce was first developed in the 1850s by John B. Early pioneers found bluegrass Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) U.S. Supreme Court John James Audubon* Ornithologist, artist. Began Lionel Hampton - musician Bibb in Frankfort. growing on Kentucky’s rich limestone soil and traders began ask- Justice, 1916-39 his work on “Birds of America” in Kentucky Larnell Harris - singer ing for the seed of the “blue grass from Kentucky.” The name John Cabell Breckinridge (1872-1920) U.S. Vice Frank Duveneck painter, sculptor, educator Kentucky Headhunters - musicians President under James Buchanan, 1857-61 Fontaine Fox Originated the nationally syndicated Ashley Judd - actress Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 at Kaelin’s in stuck and today Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State. Madeline McDowell Breckinridge (1872-1920) cartoon “The Toonerville Trolley” Naomi Judd - singer Louisville. National leader in women’s suffrage movement Matthew Harris Jouette Portrait artist Wyonna Judd - singer Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810-1903) The Lion of Paul Sawyier* Landscape artist known for scenes of Brian Littrell - singer White Hall, Ambassador to Russia, abolitionist, a Frankfort and the Kentucky River Patty Loveless - singer Barren County is one of the most fertile in the state. Loretta Lynn - singer STATE SEAL founder of the Republican Party Gideon Shyrock Architect; introduced Greek Thoroughbred Kentucky Bass Henry Clay* (1777-1852) The Great Compromiser, Revival style to the “West” Lee Majors - actor Morganfield is not in Morgan County but in Union County, U.S. senator, speaker of the U.S. House of Moneta J.Sleet, Jr. First black American to win Bill Monroe - singer John Michael Montgomery - singer Union is in Boone County, Boonesboro is in Madison The official insignia was authorized in Representatives, U.S. secretary of state Pulitzer Prize in photography, 1969 Patricia Neal - actress County, Madisonville is in Hopkins County, Hopkinsville is 1792, six months after Kentucky became Martha Layne Collins ( 1936- ) First female Ky Helen M. Turner Impressionistic landscape artist, Joan Osborne - singer STATE WILD ANIMAL STATE BUTTERFLY governor, 1983-87 portraitist Annie Potts - actress in Christian County and Christianburg is in Shelby County. a state. The motto is believed to be John Sherman Copper (1901-1991) U.S. senator, Enid Yandell First female member of the National Boots Randolph - musician from “The Liberty Song,” popular during ambassador to India and East Germany, member of Sculpture Society Kevin Richardson - singer The first commercial oil well was on the Cumberland River the Warren Commission Jeanie Ritchie - singer in McCreary County in 1819. the American Revolution, and a favorite of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) Only President of the AUTHORS & JOURNALISTS Ricky Skaggs - singer Isaac Shelby, Kentucky’s first governor. Confederate States of America, 1861-65 Mary Travers - singer Mary Desha (1850-1911) Co-founded the James Lane Allen “The Choir Invisible,” ”A Merle Travis - singer All Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured in Bowling Daughters of the American Revolution. Kentucky Cardinal” Steve Wariner - singer Green. John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) U.S. Supreme Wendell E. Berry poet/novelist/environmentalist Keith Whitley - singer Court Justice, 1877-1911 William Wells Brown America’s first black novelist Dwight Yoakum - singer KENTUCKY FLAG Viceroy Butterfly Heather R. French (1974 - ) Miss America 1999- Harry Caudill political writer The first town in the U.S. to be named for our first Grey Squirrel 2000 (now Heather French Henry) Edgar Cayce psychic counselor/author SPORTS PERSONALITIES president was Washington, Kentucky in 1780. Richard M. Johnson (1780-1850) U.S. Vice Thomas D. Clark* historian laureate of Kentucky The state seal imprinted on a field President under Martin Van Buren, 1837-41 Irvin S. Cobb journalist/humorist/short story writer Muhammad Ali - boxing of navy blue was approved by the STATE GEMSTONE STATE FOSSIL John “Casey” Jones (1864-1900) Railroad engineer Joe Creason journalist Don Brumfield - jockey Symphony #1 was the first Kentucky performance of a Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th U.S. John Fox, Jr. “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” Jim Bunning - baseball Beethoven symphony in Lexington in 1817. General Assembly in 1928. The President, 1861-65 Janice Holt Giles* “The Kentuckian,” “The Steve Cauthen - jockey A.B. “Happy” Chandler - baseball original flag is displayed in Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) Wife of Abraham Enduring Hills” The world’s longest cave, Mammoth